


The Road to Snowlands

by ritedition



Series: The 'von Helleborus' Chronicles [1]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types
Genre: Dragonborn (D&D), Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, Fantasy, Half-Elves, Homebrew Content, Original Character(s), Plot, Sorcerers, Tabaxi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24196939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ritedition/pseuds/ritedition
Summary: Bright is a curious Tabaxi, on his way through the world. When he meets a Dragonborn and a Halfelf his adventure takes different turns aside from his planned journey. But is it for the better or not?
Series: The 'von Helleborus' Chronicles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1864546
Kudos: 3





	1. One carriage, one coachman, three strangers

**Author's Note:**

> This is the story of a current D&D homebrew campaign some friends and I are playing. So the other main characters are not mine, as well as the story. Bear with me, as I know as much of the story as you. I’m just loving my character to death, enjoying him as much as I can while I try to wrap my head around the story (and figuring out my notes, so I can write this). Have fun!

Rumbling the carriage made its way through the forest. Desperately, the light fought its way through the thick treetops, making it here and there in a simple ray of light hitting the dirty ground underneath the wheels. Somewhere in the distance sang a lonely bird. But besides from that … it was pretty silent.

Too silent for Bright’s taste. Next to an elf-like looking humanoid he sat in the carriage. On the other side of both of them was a black Dragonborn. He was massive, broad shoulders, a frayed looking armor and an unfriendly, grumpy look on his face. Not even once since they met in this vehicle the guy had broken his expression, as if it was carved onto his face.  
The woman on the other side at least looked friendly. She didn’t speak a lot as well, but she seemed nice. Her dark hair gently falling to her shoulders, framing her pointed ears. There was a subtle gentleness about her that almost urged Bright into a conversation, but as he for heaven’s sake didn’t know what to say, he stayed silent. Instead his eyes moved outside. On the other side of the dirty carriage window laid the forest. It was the same view for hours. Every time the Tabaxi dared a quick check all he could see were trees, sometimes bigger rock constellations, but overall nothing but nature. Through the window cracks some wind hit his pelt. It felt nice and cool. Bright closed his eyes, enjoyed the gentle breeze against his skin, how it caressed him like a pat. The wind brought with him the voice of their coachman, who talked to himself (or his two horses. Bright wasn’t so sure which of the options it was), telling stories of cities he had seen, people he had met, monsters he had slain, adventures he had survived. Bright himself had seen is fair share of the world (or so he liked to believe) and somehow he couldn’t believe that this old man had survived everything he was babbling about right now. For a few seconds Bright listened to his incoherent stories before he turned back to his fellow passengers. His amber eyes were on the Dragonborn. Bright knew they were rare these days. Actually, the Tabaxi couldn’t recall having ever seen one before on his journeys across the lands. So he was kind of curious where the guy came from. Actually, Bright was pretty sure that he might not be from the south, as Dragonborns got hunted down there. Or did he? Was he a survivor or had kind of managed to live there, making a living? The more the Tabaxi thought about it, the more he felt the need to know. Excitedly, his large ears twitched and just as he opened his mouth to ask, a jerk tossed them from one side to the other, cutting him off.

The horses cried loudly, the coachman cursed and before Bright could grab hold somewhere the carriage came to an abrupt halt.

Bright’s body hurt. All of them had been tossed around. He had landed roughly on his shoulder, been thrown against the carriage’s wood. Every fiber in his body ached as he moved, set up. When they had stopped gravity had forced him forwards, almost thrown him into the seat in front of him. Barely in time, had he managed to raise his arms, protect himself from hitting his head on the wooded seating bank. A groan rolled off his lips as he got up, stretched himself, checking if he was badly hurt. He was not. He was pretty lucky.

His eyes darted around him. The Dragonborn had been fortunate; he only was pushed against the wood with his back. The woman had landed on the floor as well, but seemed fine. »You okay?«, Bright asked. Both of them nodded. Attentively, his ears moved around, trying to hear what was happening, before he popped his head out of a window, checking. That might had been a stupid move, but nothing was out there. Nothing that was after his head. Everything laid in silence. Even the birds were silent. »Hey, why are we stopping?« There was no answer. But he could swear he heard a shy mumble from their coachman.

»Is he alive?«, the woman asked as Bright pulled his head back in.

»I guess?« He shrugged his shoulders. »I could swear, I can hear him. But he isn’t answering. No idea, what had happened.«

Loudly, the Dragonborn huffed: »I’ll check.« He got up, pushed Bright aside and went through the too small seeming door. The carriage swayed from left to right as the heavy creature left the vehicle. With also heavy steps he marched along the carriage’s side to the front.

His voice had been low and strong and such a baritone that it gave Bright goose bumps and vibrated through his body even after he left the two. Bright watched him go, shook the feel off and carefully moved to the woman. She was still on her knees, had observed the scene but not moved yet. »You’re not hurt, right?«, he asked again.

»No«, she shook her head.

Carefully, Bright helped her back on her feet. Although she wasn’t hurt she looked kind of shaky on her feet. But who wouldn’t be? Bright felt the same. »What do you think was that?« He turned his head towards the door where the Dragonborn had left through. It was silent outside. So nothing had happened to him, right? It was neither good nor bad.

»I’m not so sure.« She held her breath as she listened, before she simply went outside. In a weak attempt Bright tried to stop her, but she was already off. And he was alone and hesitated. He should follow her and of course he was curious what had happened out there and if needed he wanted to help. But what if there was something bigger out there? Bright was no fighter. He was a skinny boy and more than one time he had struggled keeping away from problems. Hesitantly, he moved closer to the door and finally took the first step outside. The air smelled earthy and was humid. But it was silent and to Bright’s relief it all seemed fine. The Tabaxi made his way to the front of the carriage. Both the Dragonborn and elfish woman stood next to their coachman. The old man was nothing more than a stuttering, mumbling being that had curled up, hiding his face from them. »What’s with him?«, Bright asked.

The Dragonborn shrugged: »He won’t tell.«

»And is he scared?«

A shrug again. Bright let his eyes wander. One horse was gone, the other laid dead in front of the carriage. Its head was ripped of the body and nowhere to be seen. It was bloody and there were more questions than answers. Bright kneeled next to the old man. »Sir?«, he asked carefully. He didn’t react. »What had happened?« For a brief moment he looked at Bright. His eyes were glazed over, panic had left its mark on his old face. He stopped his mumbling before he started again. »Are you hurt?«

»They are coming. They were here. They are coming«, the man mumbled, this time louder so Bright could hear him.

»Who? Who is coming?«

»They are coming!«

Helplessly, Bright looked to the others. But they seemed as helpless as he was. »Sir … you kind of have to work with me here. So who-«

»The shadows! They are coming!« Fear sparkled in the coachman’s eyes as he stared at Bright. His face was pale, and he seemed scared to death. Nevertheless, Bright couldn’t make any sense out of his words. With a sigh he got up to his feet again. »He says the shadows are coming?« Bright had no idea what he meant, what he was talking about. And as he looked at the others he was pretty sure they felt the same. No one of them seemed to know for sure what he was talking about.

»It sounds as if something might be after us«, said the Dragonborn.

»And what should that be?«, Bright wondered. »Is someone after you?!« Attentively, he checked them both. On his part he was certain that there was no human being that was after him. At least he really hoped so. Last time he had checked, he was kind of fine.

»Maybe we shouldn’t try to find out while we are here out in the forest«, the elfish woman added. »What is the nearest town?« She asked the coachman. It took him some while and some mumbling until he stuttered: »Laweg.«

»Good…well… let’s pack things up and walk there. Can’t be that far, I suppose«, said the Dragonborn and was about to pick up the coachman.

»Wait, wait!«, Bright jumped, stopping him. »What if he’s hurt? If we move him, he also might lose his head?« Yeah, Bright knew that this probably wouldn’t happen, but on the other hand he wasn’t wrong. The coachman could be hurt, his horses were either gone or dead, so it was an option. His eyes wandered towards the woman. Her clothes were bright and noble looking over her leather armor. »You are a cleric, right? Can’t you just heal him?« Bright knew very well he could try on his own, but he usually was healing minor things, but what if it was a major problem, that he couldn’t handle. So he didn’t want to take the risk. And she looked like a professional, so why even bother.

»I could but…« She looked left and right. »I don’t see any wounds. I am not even sure if he needs healing.«

That was a good point, Bright had to admit. »Sir? Are you hurt?«

His body twitched oddly. Was that an answer? A yes? A no? Bright wasn’t sure at all.

»Sir?«

No answer again. But nevertheless Bright was certain that it was a horrible idea to move him without making sure that there was no problem.

»We won’t get any answers, I suppose«, she said and went down on her knees next to the coachman. Carefully, she put her hands against his chest. Her hands were glowing in a dim yellowish light that enveloped him for a second before it faded into nothing. »There shouldn’t be any wounds anymore«, she said, getting up again. »He should be fine.«

Silently, they waited that he moved on his own, that he would get on his feet. But he didn’t. He stayed right at their feet, talking to himself.

»I’m not gonna wait until he gets his mind together«, grumbled the Dragonborn, took the coachman and carried him on his back. »You two take all of our stuff and we’ll walk.« They both did that, threw their bags over their shoulders and together they marched on.

It was quiet as they walked. It was so quiet it hurt Bright’s ears. It was almost unbearable. For a while he watched the others. The coachman had stopped mumbling. »So, I’m Bright«, the Tabaxi said. »What are your names?

»I’m Alysala«, said the woman.

»Drakkrys.«

Bright nodded. »Drakkrys is kind of complicated with all those sounds and stuff … does it bother you if I call you Drak? Drakky? Rys?«

»Do not slaughter my name. It is Drakkrys.«

Unhappily, Bright made a face. »Common Drak, don’t be so grumpy.« All he earned was a second grumble. For a while they walked. Bright’s ear flinched. Actually, he wanted to wait until one of them said something, but as that moment never seemed to come he took the chance again and asked: »Why were you in this carriage? Where did you want to go?«

»None of your business.«

Well, Drak was apparently not a very talkative person. Bright sighed disappointedly. He didn’t want to be nosy, but getting to know the others a little bit better was something that he would like. Questioningly, he looked at Alysala. »What about you?«

»I am looking for someone…want to find some information. So I thought it was best to leave and go into the world.«

To be honest, that sounded promising. It was a start and the next question was already on the tip of his tongue, but he held back. Bright simply just nodded.

»What about you, cat?«

Angrily, Bright huffed and glared at Drak. He never liked it when he was called a cat. Of course he looked like one. Actually, more like a caracal on two legs only, but nevertheless he didn’t like it. He was smarter than a regular cat! He could talk for example and was not less intelligent than the other existing races. »I wanna see snow«, he said and sounded a little angry. Or offended would fit better.

»Snow? Why is that?«

»In the desert, where I am from, I never saw snow. But I heard it’s magical and special and I want to feel it with my very own feet. See something I have never seen before.« Bright was excited about that. He was pretty sure that it would be a long way until he would see snow for the first time, but he was willing to wait that long. He wanted to stick his toes into snow and feel for himself how cold it really was. He looked at the others, wondering if they might ask some more, but both remained silent.

It felt awkward. On the other hand they were people he just met and they seemed pretty reserved so they wouldn’t talk too much today. But luckily for him he hadn’t to try far more as they left the forest. To both sides they let the forest behind. In front of them were golden fields. In the midday sun the corn seemed to glow, ranging as far as the eye could see. Some livestock grazed near the tiny village that laid at the foot of a mountain range. »Do you guys think this is-«, asked Bright.

But before he could finish the coachman found his ability to speak again and added: »Laweg.«


	2. Laweg

Laweg was the typical village in the middle of nowhere, where you only meet farmers that had never set a foot outside of their village. Or if they had they came back rather quickly. On the other hand, it emitted a nice calmness and quietness that relaxed Bright immediately although they came from a broken carriage with two dead animals and a deeply traumatised coachman on Drakkrys’s back.

Rather quickly, they made their way towards the local tavern. Bright walked at the front. Confidently, he walked, his chest swollen with pride and self-confidence, and with both hands he tossed the doors of the tavern open. They revealed the dim inside. Some drunkards grumbled with the bright light that hit their eyes. Bright took a moment and looked around, let his eyes wander before he walked in, Alysala and Drakkrys right behind him. Bright believed to hear Drak mumble something about unnecessary and dramatic entrances, but he chose to ignore him.

The tavern was rather shabby but not disgusting and definitely not the worst that Bright had seen in his life. He had been at places that had been far worse, so he kind of felt at home from the very start. He walked past round, empty tables straight to the counter. He hopped on one of the stools while Drak sat the coachman on one (the mumbling guy immediately ordered some ale) and quietly inspected the bartender. It was a tall and fairly elegant looking Elf.

»Do you also want to order something?«, asked the bartender. His voice was nice and somewhat silky. A polite smile was on his well-defined thin lips. Bright liked him. He was easy trusting, sensing when he could trust people (or so he liked to tell himself).

»I take a water«, said Bright fast.

»I take some wine«, said Alysala and took a seat next to Bright.

Drak didn’t seem to want to sit. Tensely, he stood on Brights other side and leaned closer to the bartender. »We wanted to come here with a carriage.«

»Oh«, said the bartender, looking towards the doors which had closed by themselves again by now. »Was it his carriage?« He nodded towards their coachman who suckled happily his ale. »Do you have horses that need care?«

»No, we do not have any horses«, said Drak and his voice went lower. »Not anymore.«

The bartender placed the water and wine in front of Alysala and Bright. Both looked happy, clinked glasses and took a sip.

»We made our way through the forest when something attacked us. The horses are dead, one was carried off and the coachman…« Drak took a sight to his right. Everyone followed his example. »He saw horrible things it seems.«

»He was already a little weird, to be fair«, said the barman and watched the coachman, before his face twitched and he nodded: »But I believe you. He seems disturbed. But at least he his alive.«

Bright nodded. He was right with that. But for a second he wasn’t so sure if this was better. What was a life worth when he was so deeply traumatized that he couldn’t live anymore?

»May I ask, what your name is?«, asked Drak towards the bartender.

»Galachlar. At your service.« Slightly, the Elf bowed his head.

»Nice to meet you, I’m Drakkrys, these are Alysala and Bright.« Alysala also nodded and Bright waved in a tiny gesture. »When we were attacked and found him, he told us something about shadows that are coming. You don’t know by any chance what he was talking about, Galachlar?« Attentively, the Dragonborn watched the Elf, who lolled his head from side to side before he shook it: »It might be better if you ask people from here. They might know more than me.« With a grumble Drak nodded.

Bright raised a brow. »But aren’t you also from here?«, he wondered.

For a second Galachlar stared him dead in the eye before he said in Tabaxi: _»I have been to many places, Changeling. But here I haven’t been for long.«_

Surprise hit Bright. Frozen he sat up, his hands clutching his water. Without blinking he stared at the Elf. Nervously, his ears twitched. But he didn’t say anything. His heart raced. Had he misunderstood the Elf? Somehow Bright felt lightheaded, as if something far back in his head felt a deep panic that was far bigger than his own surprise. Where Bright to the very core of his being was certain that he was a Tabaxi and that the Elf had made a mistake, somewhere in the back of his head a silent, but certain voice, that he for a moment could not ignore, panicked that this Elf maybe had seen through his cover as a Tabaxi. That he had seen through and had seen to the Changeling behind.

Bright was baffled from this feeling. In his whole life he never had had such thoughts, never had had such a feeling. Confusion was on his face. Although he had questions (for himself and the Elf as well), he remained silent.

His two companions didn’t seem to be bothered. »Thank you anyways so far«, said Drakkrys and he and Alysala left the tavern again. Bright waited for a moment. With a quick glance over his right shoulder he made sure that they both were gone until he asked in Common: »Where did you learn to speak Tabaxi? I have never heard it since I had left the desert.«

»I was born there, but some years ago I had to leave.« A somewhat hurt, broken smile crossed his lips for a second.

»Why?« The desert was huge. In all those years he had lived there it was only towards the end of his time that he had met other people. And aside from the devastating dryness and lack of water there wasn’t a scenario Bright could think of that would force you to leave that piece of land.

»I’ve got driven out. By the Aschenfürst.«

Bright thought for a moment. »I’ve never heard that name.«

»Didn’t expect that.« Forgivingly, he looked at Bright. Nevertheless, it was in that kind of way, that he felt dumb. He would have liked to talk to Galachlar some more. He took a look over his shoulder again. »I guess I should follow the others«, he said, slipping off his chair. Galachlar simply nodded. »Is it okay, if I leave him in your care?« With that he nodded towards their coachman. After a second beer his head laid on top of the counter, his eyes closed and Bright could swear that he heard soft snores. »I will look after him«, said Galachlar.

»Great!« Two times Bright knocked on the counter and swiftly turned around. »Thank you!«

With quick steps Bright followed the others. On the other side of the road they checked a posting. »I’m here«, announced Bright and stepped next to them. »What are you looking at?« He raised his head, tried catching a glimpse over Drakkrys’s massive shoulders. He could barely read anything.

»Looking at the local jobs. Searching for some work«, he said.

»Oh.« Actually, Bright didn’t think that they would do jobs here. He had thought that they were just passing through. »Did you find anything?« He had no idea what kind of jobs they were looking for. Every time Bright had worked for someone it had been about herbs and plants, helping some old people on a farm for a few days.

»Cattle and people went missing«, said Alysala and tapped against one certain piece of paper. Bright’s ears flinched at the sound. »There is more information at the town house.« Energetically, Drakkrys ripped of the paper, putting it in his pockets: »Let’s get those informations.« In a direct way he went on towards the biggest of the few houses in Laweg. Alysala followed and Bright as well, loudly talking to them before he even made his way up to them: »So we are some sort of detectives now?«

»Probably«, said Alysala. »We don’t know enough so far, I would say.«

»What if it’s dangerous?« Bright sounded concerned.

»Then we fight our way through.« Drakkry’s words were harsh when he pushed the door of the town hall open.

»Fight?!«, echoed Bright and his concern grew even more. »I don’t know, if-« His words fell on deaf ears. The Dragonborn already was at the information desk, talking to a young woman that told him he had to pick a number and wait until it was their turn. The wide halls before them were empty. Empty seats standing with their backs towards the walls, ready for them to take a seat and wait. Unhappily, Drakkrys talked to her, tried to convince her that it was urgent. But she didn’t listen to him. Over and over she said the same things, entangled in some sort of weird dialog with Drakkrys. For a moment Bright watched them both, looked over to Alysala, who simply shrug her shoulders before Bright made his way off. There were three doors in the hall. Slowly, he went closer and listened. Behind the first one everything was silent. The third as well. And the second, at the head end of the hall, he heard some rustling and silent talking. Without knocking or waiting for a second Bright opened the door widely and stepped in.

A man with thinning, white hair was sitting behind one massive, wooden table. Surprised he looked up towards Bright. For a moment he stopped in his writing, confused what was happening here. »Who are you?«

»Who are you?«, asked Bright in return.

»I asked first.«

»Are you the mayor?«

»Yes, but-«

Bright made one step back into the hallway and called: »Alysala, Drak, I have found him. He’s not busy.« He went back in the office.

»Well, actually, I am really-«

»He is not THAT busy«, Bright corrected himself. Just loud enough for the Half-Elf and Dragonborn who just entered.

The mayor still wasn’t too happy with his wording. Alertly, he watched the other two before he asked: »How can I help you?« Slightly annoyed, he huffed. »Do you need some papers? About a funeral? Marriage?«

»Oh, yes. Marriage!« A smirk creeped on Drakkrys’s face. Confused Bright and Alysala looked at him.

»Good, good.« The mayor immediately searched through tall piles of paper next to him before he switched to the drawers until he pulled out one single sheet. »In that case, you have to fill the blanks here and here … and here. And here and here you have to add the names.«

»Right«, Drakkrys walked closer and started filling the paper. »How do you write ‘Alysala’?« For a short moment he took a look over his shoulder.

»Drakkrys, what are you doing? This is not what we are here for!« Alysala sounded concerned and Bright was pretty sure there was a slight hint of annoyance in her voice.

The Dragonborn didn’t seem to be bothered by that. Not even when she stepped closer to him. »Do you have a surname, Bright?«, he asked.

»Stop it right now!« Bright’s voice was shaking with anger. He walked quickly past the Dragonborn and grabbed the paper in front of him. With one hand he scrunched it. Angrily, he stared at the grey dragon and in the next second a dark, round fireball, not bigger than the middle of his hand, lit up and burned the paper to tiny pieces of ash. Firmly, he stared at Drakkrys. Anger was still on his face and his heart beat heavily in his chest. »That is not funny at all!«, he spit out. For a moment Drakkrys eyed him, put the pencil down and shrugged: »Fine.« Bright was waiting for an excuse. But he was waiting in vain. There was no excuse coming from the Dragonborn. Instead he turned towards the mayor: »We are here for the job about the missing humans and cattle.«

»Oh.« In silence the man looked from one to the other. It was obvious that the current situation was confusing him. And Bright couldn’t blame him. A moment ago it had been pretty wild. And yet, he still was angry and annoyed. Slowly, the mayor nodded, sorting his thoughts before he said: »As you said, over the past few weeks we lost cattle and some of our inhabitants left without any further notice. No one knows where they went.«

»Is there someone or something suspicious that could have caused the disappearance?«, asked Alysala.

»We are not sure«, admitted the mayor. »Some say it could have been Balkin. He lived here not too long ago.«

»Balkin, you say?«, Drakkrys nodded. »And he does not live here anymore?«

»Unfortunately not.«

»What had happened?«, asked Bright.

»As things came in action and people had jumped to conclusions … some might have set his house on fire and chased him away.« Bright wasn’t so sure if he heard regret in the mayors voice. For a second he seemed shy with the truth, but regret? No … Bright couldn’t feel anything like that here. He frowned. »Did you know for sure, that it was him?«, he asked. It seemed too much that they had turned on him without knowing for sure. So they had to be sure, right? And they now only had to look for Balkin.

»Well…« The mayor rocked his head from left to right and crossed his arms over his chest. »… it was rumoured that he worked with some sort of dark magic for a while. So it made sense that it was him. It fit the picture.«

»So you weren’t certain.« Disgusted, Bright wrinkled his nose. They had just turned on someone because they had thought that he might be their problem.

»Do you have any idea where we might look for him?«, asked Drakkrys.

»Someone like him might hide in the forests. I would look there for him.«

A rude answer was already at the tip of Bright’s tongue, but he held back. Angrily, he clenched his fists in his pockets. »Fine, we will take care of the problem«, said Drakkrys. »For 300 gold for each of us.« The mayor hesitated for a second. »Fine«, he agreed. »But please, hurry up.«

»You are an asshole, you know that, Drak, right?«, asked Bright quite bitter as they left the town hall.

A soft chuckle came from the Dragonborn. He knew exactly what Bright was talking about. »Come on, Bright«, he said, nudged Bright on the shoulder. »It was just a joke.«

Still no excuse there. And it bothered Bright even more. He glared at Drakkrys. »Fine«, he hissed. He kicked a stone. »I don’t think we should help those people because of Balkin. They were mean and he probably isn’t even at fault!«

»What if he is?«, asked Drak.

»What if he isn’t? They just came to conclusions and decided on the easy way.«

»But we already agreed to do it«, Alysala added.

»And they pay a lot. And besides that what do you want to do? Hunt the Orks in the near area?«, said Drakkrys.

»Orks?«

»It was one other job. But I thought none of us wanted to do it. But if you want to do it…?« Without waiting for an answer the Dragonborn walked of. Alysala followed him. Bright waited for a second, stared at his feet. »No …«, he mumbled, kicked some more stones. Just then he came to a realization: »Wait!« He ran after the others. »So when we are gonna look for him in the forests … then there will be Orks? And the shadows?! From whom we still don’t know what it might be?!«

»Probably«, nodded Drakkrys. To Bright’s surprise neither Drakkrys nor Alysala seemed too bothered by that. Was he the only one who didn’t want to meet any of these beings? »Or we run into nothing at all, find Balkin, talk to him or make him leave and get paid and leave this place.«

Bright felt like a little child as he stood there, an unhappy grimace on his face and not satisfied with the answer at all. But he felt like they both were kind of right. »Fine«, he mumbled and with a slouched posture he came after them.

»Why don’t you already go back to the tavern? We should stay here for the night. I have to go and buy some stuff. I’ll come after you«, said Drakkrys and before they could protest or anything he had already left.

»Is it just me, or does he feel like a huge egoistic ass?«, asked Bright Alysala as he watched the Dragonborn leave.

»I guess, he’s just grumpy«, she said. »I’m pretty sure that he does not mean any harm.«

Bright flinched. »Better be so. I don’t want to stumble into weird problems because of him.« To be honest, Bright already had enough problems on his own. He didn’t need any problems from strangers. Yes, he sounded egoistical himself right now, but he tried to communicate as much with them as he could and yet the Dragonborn still was an ass. A grumpy ass.

»Don’t worry, we will be fine«, Alysala said and patted Bright on the shoulder as they walked back to the tavern. »Drakkrys seems to be a person that can fight, if we get into trouble. And I know how to heal. Don’t worry, Bright, we will be fine.« He nodded. »And Drakkrys is probably right, that we won’t even get into problems.«

»I really hope you’re right«, nodded Bright as he energetically pushed the doors of the tavern open. It was more crowded than before. Some people sat at the bar, some sat at the round tables. »I’ll get us something to drink«, Bright said and walked towards the bar. With his fingers he knocked on the wood. »Hey, Galachlar, can we have some ale?« He heard some noise from the kitchen. »Galachlar? Everything alright?« Bright leaned far over the counter. He couldn’t see anything specific, all he could hear were some clattering and clanks before one woman stumbled outside. With surprise Bright watched her, raised his eyebrows. »Who are you?«, he asked quite baffled.

»What? I’m Ida? I’m the bartender here. This tavern is mine«, she said and patted her slightly dirty, simple clothes.

»What?« Bright was confused. »But we have been here before and here was this guy, Galachlar. He’s an Elf and I actually assumed that the tavern belonged to him?«

»That can’t be. This tavern belongs to me.«

The confusion hit Bright hard. He really didn’t know what to say. Somehow he seemed to spark some pity in her: »I’m sorry dear. But Elfs aren’t here normally. There is only that wizard dwarf that visits us once a year.«

»No… it wasn’t a dwarf, for sure.«

Ida shrugged. »Anyways, can I bring you something? Some of my steamed duck perhaps? It’s the best near and far!« She was obviously proud about that fact. A slight red colour spread on her cheeks.

»Later perhaps. For now just two ales, please.«

She nodded and served Bright. He paid and walked back to Alysala. »What took you so long?« As he placed one ale before her, she took a small sip.

»You remember Galachlar?«

»The bartender?«

»And the owner of the tavern… or so I thought.«

»Yes, what is with him?«

»He’s not here.«

»Perhaps he is somewhere else? Doing something … bartender things?«

»No! More like, he isn’t supposed to be here and Ida-«

»Who is Ida?«

»The OWNER of this tavern!«

»But … is she Galachlar’s wife?«

»No, she is not. At least I don’t think so«, Bright said. He crooked his head. He hadn’t asked that. »But she doesn’t know his name and she said that there are no Elfs here.«

»But we saw him and he clearly was an Elf.«

»Right.« _But what if_ , Bright thought to himself. _he wasn’t an Elf?_ There were beings in this world that could change their appearance. Even spells that could do so. Perhaps Galachlar really wasn’t an Elf. But Ida also didn’t know his name. Was that also a lie? Who was he? And if he wasn’t what he seemed to be, would that explain why he addressed him as a Changeling? Bright wrinkled his forehead. With one claw he tipped against his mouth and stared at the wood before him. »I kind of have a weird feeling about this, Alysala.«

She nodded. Clearly, one could see how she also thought about the past meeting, how she tried to puzzle the pieces. »If he wasn’t the owner of this tavern, and not the owner’s husband …«, she said. Bright’s ears twitched and attentively he looked over to her. »and perhaps not even an Elf, then … who did we just meet and talk to?«

Silently, they exchanged looks. Both of them seemed helpless. Bright sighed deeply. »I have no idea«, he admitted.


	3. The shadow in the woods

Clink. Clink. For multiple hours Bright had heard that metallic sound. A clinking produced by Drakkrys’s plate armour. Somehow the Dragonborn had decided that he didn’t want to get out of it and Bright hadn’t thought much about it. Not until he laid in one of the eight bed sleeping room, and as soon as it was silent he heard that sound. As soon as Drakkrys moved, turned left to right, rolled over, he heard it again. It was a subtle sound, coming every now and then. But with its repetition it kept Bright from fully falling asleep. Every time he drifted of, he felt like he could embrace the welcoming arms of sleep itself, it was there and woke him up again. It shook him just enough so he would be awake and desperately try to fall asleep again.

Grumpily, Bright took a tiny last bite of his breakfast. His head was dizzying. His arms and legs felt heavy and if you asked him he didn’t want to leave the tavern today at all.

»What is wrong with you, Bright?«, asked Alysala.

»I’m damn tired!«, he mumbled and wiped his eyes. »Because Drak slept in his freaking armour. It was so noisy, I couldn’t sleep at all.«

»Yeah, I’m sorry«, said Drak. »If it helps: I didn’t sleep too well myself.«

»You don’t say. No wonder if you lay in metal.« Salty, Bright frowned and shook his head. »Do we agree, that you take the armour off next time?« It wasn’t too much to ask, right?

»Yeah… I guess it’s better. But I felt safe«, Drakkrys tried to explain.

»Correct me, if I’m wrong, but we weren’t in any danger this night?«, said Bright and emptied his glas. »Or were we?«

Alysala shook her head. »I don’t think so.«

»Just to be sure«, said Drakkrys.

Before Bright could say anything, he clearly saw Alysala rolling her eyes. It caused a small chuckle from him. »So anyways, how do we do it? Are we going to the forest and look for Balkin?«

»That would be the best«, nodded Drakkrys. »We walk back and look out for some traces.«

»If we find the second horse of ours, we might find Balkin, too«, added Alysala.

Bright weighed his head. »But only if those shadows are the same as Balkin.«

»Yeah … we have to be lucky I guess«, said Alysala with a slight nod. »But I prayed last night for some luck in our adventure and I hope Elda will be on our side and help us.«

Drakkrys and Bright exchanged looks. »Who is Elda?«, asked Bright.

»She is the Goddess, I worship.«

Bright nodded. He wasn’t any smarter now at all. For a second he looked over to Drakkrys. The Dragonborn didn’t seem to know this deity either. Bright had never heard of her. When he had wandered across the lands he had seen a lot of worshippers of different deities. But not one of them was named Elda. »What kind of deity is she?«, asked Drakkrys on his behalf.

Alysala moved a little in her seat and she looked quite happy that they both had asked. Eagerly, she moved a little closer and said: »She is the mother of waters. Ponds, springs, you name them. Also she is the goddess of piece and silence.« A content look plastered itself on her face and as she ended she nodded shortly.

»That…«, said Bright. »…sounds like a nice deity.«

»Indeed, she is. Or else I wouldn’t worship her!«, Alysala said.

Bright held himself back. He had seen and heard people say something like that and they had followed horrible deities and had done horrible things in the names of those gods. Not that he thought that Alysala would do the same, but just because people followed some higher being didn’t mean that they and that being were nice in any way. »So with help of your goddess, we really might be lucky today«, he said.

Drak nodded and stood up. »Let’s go and check how lucky we really are.«

The forest wasn’t as scary as Bright remembered. It wasn’t nearly as silent, birds sang and the wind whistled through the branches and leaves. Perhaps it was because a day had passed and the crippling fear and uncertainness that Bright had felt as they were under attack was gone. The forest still was dark but it wasn’t nearly as depressing as it was yesterday. After a short walk they had made their way back to the carriage. It was still there where they had left it. Nothing seemed to have changed. One horse corpse laid there, flies flying around it and some small footprints that obviously belonged to multiple different animals had surrounded it. Of course, a corpse wouldn’t stay unnoticed by animals. Bright checked their surroundings. But right now, nothing seemed to lurk around.

Drakkrys went towards the carriage, risked a look inside while Alysala and Bright looked around the outside.

»Nothing«, said Drakkrys as he came back. He obviously was more than unsatisfied.

»I can’t see anything either«, added Alysala and Bright simply shrug his shoulders.

»The shadows didn’t seem to have been here again.«

»No wonder… nothing of interest was here«, said Bright. »Perhaps we have to lure them back?«

»And how do you want to do it?«

Bright didn’t know that, to be honest. All he did was shrugging his shoulders again while he was trying to spark an idea.

»Or we walk a little deeper and might find them?«, suggested Alysala.

»And walk right into them?!« Bright’s voice shrieked in uprising fear.

»Do you have a better idea?«

»Mhh…«, the Tabaxi weighed his head. »We are looking for something that is after cattle, right? What if we set a trap? So the something comes here and we see what it is?«

The two others exchanged looks. »But we don’t have cattle«, said Drakkrys. »And we can’t beg the town people to give us some. Not even one. They are already poor enough.«

Bright frowned upon that addition. That was not what he had thought about. Of course he didn’t want to ask the people for cattle that could die because they wanted to see what was waiting for them. »We could fake it«, he said. He kneeled down and with one hand he touched his own shadow below him. Loudly, he exhaled and no second later the shadow stretched and flinched, it moved under his hand and out of the roundish shape of dark formed a little sheep. Still flat, it was below Bright who smiled vaguely. He gave his shadow a soft pet and as if it was a real animal the shadow-sheep moved its head towards his hand and moved a little. Pretty proud with himself Bright looked up.

The Dragonborn however didn’t seem to be too impressed. »It really doesn’t look real at all.«

»Yeah…well… it’s still a shadow«, admitted Bright. Nevertheless, he felt a small sting of disappointment. He had hoped that he would impress them. Apparently, that wasn’t the case. »But if it falls against a surface it might look like an actual animal? From a little away perhaps? And maybe they aren’t that smart so it works?« In his own ears that idea sounded pretty good, but he could see that they weren’t convinced. »Or do you have a better idea?!«

For a second they both brooded, tossed around ideas but in the end they dropped those them and decided to stick to Bright’s idea. Or at least try it. Perhaps it would work. With his shadow sheep Bright moved closer towards the carriage. To his best, he tried to hide away while his shadow sheep cast against one side of the carriage, causing it to “stand up”. And if you didn’t look too close the sheep looked legit. Simply like a smaller, black sheep lost in the forest and fully on his own. Alysala and Drakkrys hid themselves behind the carriage, making sure that they had a good look to Bright and the sheep. And all they could do was waiting.

And wait.

And wait.

Bright’s eyes were fixated on his shadow. He stared so hard, his eyes started to burn and then to water. But he didn’t want to miss it. And more over: he wanted to be right and this idea to be working. On the other hand, he could clearly sense that the others were getting restless and he was as well. It wasn’t working, right? Bright sighed deeply. Just as he was already on the verge of giving up, as he was almost getting back on his feet, there was a nearby rustle. In one of the bushes right in front of him it rustled again. His ears perked. With as little motion as possible Bright dared a glare over his shoulder back to the others. They seemed tense. So they had heard it as well. All of them stared in the direction the noise was coming from. And all of them seemed to think the same: What was waiting for them?

But whatever it was it took its sweet time. »That’s enough.« Bright heard the slight whisper from Drakkrys before the Dragonborn was on his feet again and stormed towards the rustling. It took a second before Alysala followed him. »Guys!«, Bright shouted as he heard louder noises. He jumped on his feet. The black sheep vanished. And as quick as he could he ran after them. As he arrived, it was already over. With a bloody sword Drakkrys stood between two dead boars, Alysala next to him. Bright loudly broke through the bushes. »Are you okay?«, he asked.

»Yes, no problem at all«, said Drakkrys and with one foot he tipped against the carcasses.

»So it only were two boars?«

»Actually three«, said Alysala. »One ran away. Not a problem I guess. They weren’t the shadows we were looking for, I assume.« Bright was about to nod in agreement. Just in that second in that the muscles in his neck already contracted there was a loud scream nearby. A high pitched scream. Clearly, it came from an animal. But it was so full of pain and high pitched that it let Bright shudder. He got goose bumps and frowned. »You mean THAT boar?«, he asked. She nodded. »I’m not certain«, started Bright. »if I want to know what got that boar.«

In silence they stood. They listened. But there was no second scream and after the scream had made everything silent, the sounds of the forest came slowly back. Everything seemed fine.

»We HAVE to check«, said Drakkrys and Alysala nodded to his words. »It could be the shadow we were looking for. And it’s near. Come on!« He crouched a little and with careful steps he went on. Alysala followed him and waved Bright after her. The Tabaxi hesitated, he frowned until he nodded and came right after them. Slowly, they made step after step and after a short while they saw a small camp in the forest. A single campfire was burning and next to it sat a lonely figure. He was coated in a cloak and watched the small flame. As far as Bright could tell he hadn’t heard them. Questioningly, Bright looked over to the others. Now what? They didn’t answer his silent question. They just watched the figure until Drakkrys took the first step out of the bushes and walked confidently towards the person. »Hello? Excuse me, we are looking for Balkin. Is that you?«

It took a moment before the figure nodded. »Yes, I am Balkin.«

The others exchanged looks and Bright, who was still hidden in the bushes, wrecked his neck in an attempt to hear better.

»And are you the reason for the missing people and cattle?«

»I might«, said Balkin. »They forced me to leave. I deserved it, I guess. But now everything can change for me.« A hint of happiness sparked in his voice.

»And what has changed?«, Alysala asked. Curiously, she moved a little bit closer.

»I was burdened with a curse. But I found help.«

»So you made a deal?«, added Drakkrys.

»Yes. A while ago and in hope that I would get help. But so far … there is the price I yet have to pay. So I stay here and wait for it.« Balkin looked up to the two.

»And would be your cur-« Drakkrys was cut short. Just as he was about to ask the question Balkin looked up towards the dark sky. As soon as his eyes spotted the slight hint of the moon, an obvious pain washed over his face. He frowned and his body cramped.

»Drakkrys?«, asked Alysala, moving back. Bright himself hid some more. »What is going on?«, she asked. The Dragonborn simply shook his head. He didn’t know either for sure.

In their surprise they hesitated and watched as Balkin’s body fell to the ground and shook. His body moved, it formed. With a loud crack his rips broke, his bones moved and shifted and like a balloon it blew up, it got bigger until he was at least double his origin size. His face got longer, it stretched and formed a snout. A dry cough escaped him and a suffering whimper rolled over his lips before his head shot towards them. With glowing yellow eyes, pupils thin as slits, he glared at them. Drool ran over the sharp teeth that had formed and tried to fit in the wide maw. A growl rolled over his lips. Where a fragile looking man has sat, stood now a big creature. Almost wolf-like but much bigger, stronger and he looked so buff that Bright feared he could kill him with one single hit of his claw.

»He’s a werewolf«, gasped Alysala. The exact thought had passed Bright’s mind. He wanted to call for the others. He wanted to tell them that they should come back. That it was dangerous. But he remained silent for a minute and before he could say anything Drakkrys had drawn his sword and ran towards Balkin. In one strong blow he attacked the beast, slid through his shoulder. A scream of agony thundered through the dark forest. Bright’s ears hurt and slowly he moved out of the bushes. Alysala already was at Drakkrys’s side. She fired one spell in Balkin’s direction as the Dragonborn went for another blow. The werewolf’s body shook in pain and a heart breaking scream escaped him as the sword hit him in the chest and then sliced through his upper body. For a few steps he stumbled forward, in a weak slash he tried to attack Drakkrys but he missed, before he broke down and fell to the ground. Quickly, Bright ran to them and as he made it, Balkin already had stopped breathing. Nevertheless he asked: »Is he-«

»Yes.«

Bright pressed his lips together. »Was it really necessary that he died?«

»Well, he attacked us and we had no other chance«, said Drakkrys as he went on his knees and looked through the rests of Balkin’s clothes. But before he could find anything dark smoke streamed off of Balkin’s body. »What«, said Drakkrys, got on his feet and stumbled backwards. Surprised all three of them watched as more smoke formed, rose in the air and formed a figure. Slowly but surely, they could make sense of the form. Bright made a face. But that … that couldn’t be, right? Nervously, his eyes met the others. That was crazy.

»Galachlar?«, asked Alysala and she said what every single one of them was thinking.

Without saying a word the shadow nodded and clapped for them. He raised his hand and on the back of the werewolf the pelt vanished and on the bare skin formed some lines. Some straight and wrinkled lines, here and there, moving all over until it looked exactly like a map. Bright crocked a brow. But a map from where? As if Galachlar had heard his question his finger pointed to something that looked like a city and underneath formed letters that read _Alveracc_. Alveracc? Bright knew that that city existed. It was pretty big, so naturally you had to know it. But aside from that? »Why do we have to go there?«, he asked.

But he got no answer. Galachlar simply pointed to the map. A second after, he raised his hand and a small, black bag appeared. With a slouchy movement he threw the bag next to the corpse. »For the Aschefürst«, he said and then he vanished. With a strong gust of wind he was gone. They were alone. They. And the corpse. »What was that?«, asked Bright. You could hear in his voice how baffled he was. »Had Galachlar been a shadow before?«

»I … have no idea«, admitted Alysala. »This is so weird. But apparently we should go to Alveracc?«

»And we do that because he said so?«, Bright asked. »We could go somewhere else. To places where we have unfinished business.«

»I don’t know…« Alysala seemed uncomfortable.

»I am with Bright«, said Drakkrys and satisfied Bright smiled. »With Balkin’s death we have done what we need. We collect our money and leave. How about going to Wächterhalle? I have seen some jobs there.«

»Sounds good«, nodded Bright. »Although I would like to stay a little bit? A lot had happened the last days … we could relax a little, right?« Alysala nodded in agreement.

»How about this: we part. I go to Wächterhalle and in two days we meet there after you had you free time«, suggested Drakkrys. The other two both nodded. It was settled. Bright turned and looked at the corpse. »What do we do with him?«

»We leave him here«, said Drakkrys. »It doesn’t matter anymore.«

Bright frowned. He wasn’t so sure. It didn’t sound right. »Should we burry him here?« He looked towards Alysala. She was the cleric. She certainly had an opinion on this, or not? But she just shrugged her shoulders: »We should do as Drakkrys says.«

»Fine«, nodded Bright. »And what about that bag from Galachlar?«

Drakkrys stepped forward, took it. »It’s gold«, he said and took a coin. Between his teeth he checked it, turned it left and right before his eyes until he put it back and dropped the bag. »It’s fake gold. Absolutely no worth.« With that he went on. Alysala followed. Bright hesitated. One more time his eyes wandered over the bag and corpse, when he also turned and went after them: »Wait for me!«


	4. What lives under the surface

For several days Alysala and Bright had relaxed in Laweg. Taken, the village hadn’t too much to offer but after the past surprises, Bright was more than happy to have a little downtime without any beasts and monsters that wanted to kill him. But the things that had happened stuck in his head. The meeting with Galachlar had been weird and Balkin had talked about a curse. And somehow this little detail stuck with Bright in particular. Perhaps he should take this and investigate further into it when he had the chance.

After that stop, they did as they had promised Drakkrys and made their way to Wächterhalle. The march was fairly easy and peaceful. But even when they were still a half day march away from the city they already could see it from afar. Midst in the high mountain it sat. Carved into stone and stoic and proud the city stood with walls so high that they seemed to touch the sky above. The closer they got the taller they seemed. It was impressive. Bright couldn’t stop but stare in awe. Never in his life had he seen a city like this. It was so huge and when he and Alysala walked past the guards at the gate and entered the city he almost feared that he could get lost here very easily. »It’s huge«, he whispered towards Alysala. »Where did Drakkrys say he’ll wait?«

»In a tavern. It was called … the ‘Verwunschene Axt’?«

Bright nodded. »Lucky that he already had been here before.«

»Yeah, we wouldn’t find him again otherwise.«

She was right. She was absolutely right. The city was huge. People of all races wandered around them. They sold their goods; they were loud as they talked. In its summary it was like an active, huge beehive around them while they themselves had trouble orientating. Every now and then someone bumped into him and Bright struggled keeping his balance for a second. He craned his neck and stood on his tiptoes but although he could see some taverns none of their nameplate read as ‘Verwunschene Axt’. Deeply, he sighed and without further thinking he walked towards a near merchant. He was selling plants and herbs and potions and drinks and tinctures. For a moment, Bright watched his display with great interest before he turned towards the man: »I am very sorry, Sir. I am Bright-«

»I am Edoran«, the other nodded.

A short smile flashed on Bright’s face. »Nice to meet you. You are selling herbs?«

»Herbs and plants and potions and actually everything you need. I am the alchemist of Wächterhalle. Are you looking for something in particular?« You could clearly see the spark in his eyes as he looked at Bright. He fully was in his element.

»Well, actually«, said Bright and it almost hurt him to tell Edoran that he wasn’t a customer in this moment. »Actually, I am looking for a tavern. The tavern ‘Verwunschene Axt’. Do you know where to go by any chance?«

For a moment Edoran seemed surprised by this question and that they both didn’t want to buy from him, until he nodded: »Indeed, I know where to go. Just follow the right street for a while then turn left as soon as you can and the tavern then will be on your right. You can hardly miss it.«

»Thank you«, said Alysala politely behind Bright. The Tabaxi nodded as well: »Thank you so much. And have a nice day!«

»Don’t forget about me. Come here if you need anything. I am here every day to every time. Except in the afternoon!«

With a nod, Bright waved to him over his shoulder. And they went on. They followed the way as described and soon after they stood in front of the tavern. The name pranged proudly above their heads. Before they even could make their way inside, the wide door opened and a too well known Dragonborn stumbled outside. »Drakkrys!«, said Alysala, and happy about the reunion she smiled towards him. Bright greeted him with a nod.

»Ah, there you are! I wondered what took you so long.«

»Well… we were a little slower than anticipated«, admitted Bright. It was mostly his fault. On their way he had looked for herbs here and there and it had costed them quite some time.

»It was Bright’s fault«, said Alysala and with a little shame in his heart Bright nodded. He would have been happy if she wouldn’t have to tell, but … yeah, it was his fault. It was okay that she told Drakkrys though. And it wasn’t like they had missed something, they weren’t in a rush or on a deadline, right?

»Well, now you are here«, nodded Drakkrys. He didn’t sound too bothered, but Bright thought that he got a feeling that the Dragonborn was more a friend of being efficient and on time. Something that he himself was in no way. No chance. In 9 of 10 situations he probably was too late and the last person showing up. But that was no problem for right now. »While I waited, I looked for some jobs for us. We can start with them right now.«

»Oh«, made Bright. »Like _right now_ right now? Immediately?«

»Sure, why not.« With enthusiastic steps Drakkrys walked past them and looked shortly over his shoulder if they followed him. »It’s actually pretty simple. There is a Dwarf, Garmin, who has some problems with some spiders. Some weird phobia or something. We take care of that.«

»Spiders?«, echoed Bright. »I guess not those small spiders?«

»Of course not«, sighed Alysala. »It would be too easy.«

»Right«, nodded Drakkrys and waved one hand. »But it’s gonna be easy anyways. Garmin has problems with those spiders because they kill his cattle. So we have to take care of this. His farm is outside the city and a foreman is looking after everything because he doesn’t dare to set a foot on his property right now.«

»Wow«, said Bright and took one deep breath before he nodded. »Alright. Let’s help him.«

In the end, Drakkrys had been right. It was neither a problem nor was it about spiders. It were some oversized rats that had fed of the grains and when they couldn’t find more they had attacked the cattle. It was quite a struggle, but they had managed to get rid of those pests and with a few scratches they were back in Wächterhalle before the night dawned. Together they took a seat in the tavern, ready for a hearty meal and some good drinks.

»What I don’t get is: why did he say it was about spiders? We or someone else would have taken the job even if he had said it were rats. They weren’t such a huge challenge«, said Alysala. Slight concern showed on her face.

»Perhaps he wasn’t so sure what was bothering him?«, suggested Bright and he stretched his neck, looking out for the waitress, eager to order something to eat.

»I don’t think so«, said Drakkrys. Alysala silently agreed. »If you are scared like that you most certainly know what is bothering you. I guess he really was lying.«

»But why?«

The Dragonborn shrugged. »We should ask him. We have to report back to him anyways so we get paid. Then we have the chance to ask some questions.«

The Halfelf nodded and she let her eyes wander. »Does any of you see him?«

Bright was barely helping, but in the corner of his eye he caught a movement. »Guys?«, he said. »I know, it’s not Garmin, because it’s no Dwarf, but this Kenku over there… is he waving to us?« With a slight nod he showed them what he meant. A few tables away sat a smallish Kenku in a dark cape, trying to hide in the masses around him, while he now and then raised his claws and looked directly towards them. It was obvious that he was trying to get their attention. Baffled, all three of them looked over to the small ravenlike creature. »Yep«, nodded Bright. »He’s waving at us.«

»Perhaps we should follow his invitation?«, suggested Alysala. Bright wasn’t too much into this idea but with the others he got up and made his way towards the Kenku. Here and there they got pushed, but had somehow made their way towards him and Bright could swear it was only for a second he lost sight of the Kenku, but when he saw the table again it was empty. »What the-«, he gasped. »Drak? Alysala?« He went faster and hopped in between his steps, but nowhere he could see the guy. He was gone. As Bright arrived at the table he was really gone and everything that was left was a piece of paper that was tagged to the tabletop with a dagger. »Damnit, he really is gone!«, hissed Bright and climbed on one of the stools and tried to find they guy as he was possibly leaving the tavern. But all he could see where heads of people that where talking to each other, drinking and having mostly a good time. With a sigh and still standing on the stool, making him about forty centimetres taller than he usually was, he turned towards the others. Drakkrys already held the piece of paper in his hands. »And?«, asked Bright.

The Dragonborn frowned, slightly shook his head and handed the paper towards Alysala.

»You can read, right?«, joked Bright.

»Yes, I can«, said Drakkrys unimpressed. »Or I could do it. But nothing is written there.«

»What?« Bright was confused. »But I thought it might be a message for us. For a secret job or something?«

»I thought so too«, said the Dragonborn and slightly shrug his shoulders. Alysala also shook her head and handed the paper to Bright. »Perhaps it was nothing. He might has mistaken us for someone else.« The Dragonborn nodded: »Possibly.«

Bright was unhappy with this situation. In his mind this had been the start for an awesome adventure. But all they had got was nothing. Too bad. But the moment he touched the paper and his eyes wandered, letters appeared. They appeared and formed to words and sentences and in the first moment Bright couldn’t read it until he blinked and suddenly see he could see clear and he was able to read it. It said: _To the Multifaced. With this I invite you to my humble mansion in Alveracc._ Hit by surprise, Bright stared at the paper. Shortly, his eyes darted towards the others. They weren’t paying too much attention to him. Bright’s mouth already opened, wanted to tell them what he had just read but there was again this surprise with a not so decent undertone of crippling fear that he had felt when he had talked with Galachlar back in Laweg. He was afraid. He was stressed. He really didn’t need anybody to know. Bright swallowed hard and his hands trembled a tiny bit as he folded the paper and put his in his bag: »Just in case that we might need it, I just keep it in my bag.« He spoke silently and wasn’t even sure if the others had heard him. But they weren’t paying too much attention to him either as they already looked around again and a short spark of excitement washed over Drakkrys face, as he exclaimed: »There is Garmin.« He raised one hand, waved towards the Dwarf and tried to communicate that they would meet at their table from before. Together they walked back, took a seat. Bright still felt uncomfortable and in silence he nibbled his drink while the others talked to Garmin about the done job.

Apparently, he had known that it weren’t spiders. But he had to look for help with spiders and not rats so he could scam the insurance. Pretty petty if you’d ask Bright. But what did he know? He didn’t own any property or insurance. So it wasn’t his problem what other people did in that case. And they hadn’t too much of a problem with the rats, so it was alright with him. Lost in his thoughts he tried to sort his feelings that slowly faded. What was that feeling? Why was he so scared? Was it really him who was that ‘Multifaced’? But why? He knew for sure that he had only one face. His very own of course.

»…and now I’ll get the money back«, ended Garmin his little speech and called a waitress over. »Hey, Willow, dear, will you bring us some more schnapps?«

She nodded and was already about to leave, as Drakkrys stopped her, saw his chance to ask something: »Sorry, but you as an Elf … have you, by any chance, ever heard of Galachlar?«

Her face had been polite and happy up until now. But she frowned, she looked slightly offended by Drakkrys’ words. »We do not talk about the old king!«, she hissed sharply and quickly walked away.

Baffled, Drakkrys starred after her. »I didn’t mean to offend her«, he stated towards the others. They only nodded. »You don’t know any Galachlar, Garmin, right?« It was worth a try. But the Dwarf only shook his head: »Sorry.« Silently, they sat together and drank until it was Garmin who broke the silence as he turned towards Bright: »Why don’t you drink, boy?«

»I’m not too fond of alcohol«, he admitted.

»But you DO drink?«

»Sometimes.«

»That’s good! Because as a sign of my thankfulness for your help I wanted to buy you drinks. Special drinks. They are the best by far.« Garmin raised his hand and with a hand sign he ordered shot glasses and a bottle of booze. One after another he placed the glasses in front of everyone and filled the glasses to the brim. Bright sniffed. And frowned. It smelled strongly of alcohol. Like strongly. Not so slight like beer or ale smelled. It was so strong it immediately sent a shiver down his back. He hesitated grabbing the shot and toasting with the others. Drakkrys and Alysala seemed to think the same.

»What is wrong?«, asked Garmin.

»I don’t want to«, said Drakkrys. »It’s too strong.«

»Yeah, me too«, said Alysala.

Before Bright could say the same Garmin looked hurt. Bright felt sorry for him. The Dwarf wanted to be nice. »I’ll drink for Drakkrys«, he offered although he wasn’t too happy with this. He wasn’t good with alcohol and now he had to double it.

»I’ll just sip it«, sighed Alysala. She seemed to pity Garmin as much as Bright did.

Together the three of them toasted and drank. The alcohol was strong. And bitter. It tasted tangy and horrible. His hair stood on end. He frowned, stuck his tongue out and coughed a little. He took a sip of his water, trying to get rid of the taste. But there still was the glas of Drakkrys. Suffering he sighed and downed that shot as well. »Oh my…what«, he murmured and shook his head. The second shot was even worse. But before he could protest, Garmin took the chance and filled his glasses again. Bright sighed. He clearly saw where this was leading. But he couldn’t bring himself to stop Garmin. He looked so happy in this moment. At the same time … Bright clearly felt the alcohol taking effect. His head was dizzy, he felt warm and tingly all over. But he had to admit: he didn’t feel too bad. It was okay, although everything felt like cotton.

Multiple shots later Bright struggled with his vision and he often had to ask people what they had told him. Shot after shot he downed. But he also remembered that he was laughing with Garmin a lot who handled the alcohol way better than the Tabaxi did. He remembered that Garmin told some war stories and that he drew is hammer and wanted to demonstrate some moves when he first hit Drakkrys and then Alysala. Bright had laughed, drank some more shots and then at some time he had passed out.

When he woke up his head felt dizzy. His body was heavy, he felt horrible. Every fibre hurt, every muscle ached. He felt as if Garmin had hit him with the hammer as well. But he wasn’t hurt, he wasn’t wounded. Only hungover. A groan escaped him when he rolled over on his knees and weakly tried to get on his feet. It was a complicated task on his own and so he registered pretty late that something was off. It was dark around him. Dark like night. A few metres away some orbs of glass glowed in a dim light. Bright looked down on himself. He didn’t wear his clothes. He was wearing something that looked like a potato sack. »What-«, he said and squint his eyes. »Drak? Alysala? Are you there?«

He held his breath as he listened into the darkness. Perhaps… yeah…perhaps he could hear a groan a few metres away. Slowly he moved further. »Drak?«, he asked again, this time more silent. »Alysala?« He walked forward and as he saw some outlines of bodies he dashed forward, fell to his knees. It was Alysala. »Are you okay? Are you hurt?« Through the dim light he tried to scan her. She looked alright. A little bruised perhaps. She also checked herself. And although she shook her head, Bright carefully touched her by the shoulder and healed her. A blue flame embraced them and vanished again. She looked better now.

»Do you know, where we are?«, she asked. Bright shook his head: »No idea.«

Again a groan a few steps away and Bright saw how Drakkrys got up. »Are you alright?«

»Yeah, yeah, I am fine.« The Dragonborn looked around. »Where the hell are we?« Before Bright, again, could tell him that he had no clue, they heard steps. Steps that were coming closer to them and with them a flickering light. »Quick!, Hide!«, hissed Drakkrys and within the next second everyone darted in a different direction and tried their best to find a good hiding spot. Bright ducked behind a stalagmite. With one hand he grabbed the sad outline of his shadow, lifted it off the ground and over his head, hiding him even more than before. It possibly wasn’t necessary, it was dark. But you couldn’t be too careful, he thought.

From his hideout he saw the light coming closer. The steps got louder. He saw the silhouette of a woman entering the cave room. »Hello?«, she called. »Hello?« Everyone remained silent. »You don’t have to be afraid. We know that you are here, we mean no harm.«

We? Bright saw only one woman. His eyes darted around. He couldn’t see anyone else. For a moment nothing happened then Drakkrys got out of his hiding spot. What was he doing?! Bright tensed up.

»Who are you?«, asked the Dragonborn.

The woman mustered him and kept looking around. »You are not alone, right?« Drakkrys shook his head. »I am Iana«, she said and she spoke louder as if she wanted Bright and Alysala to be able to hear as well. »You are not alone. It’s me and two more.«

»And where exactly are we?«

»Underground. Or to be specific: the housing area of the Arena of the Pit.«


End file.
